J.K. Rowling Just Brought The Wizarding Universe to North America

The first installment of a new J.K. Rowling series aptly namedMagic in North America,exploded onto the Harry Potter fan website Pottermore Tuesday (free membership required). The entry, titled "14th Century-17th Century," gives a brief introduction to magical history on the continent, focusing heavily on Native American wizards.

"The Native American magical community and those of Europe and Africa had known about each other long before the immigration of European [Muggles] in the seventeenth century," wrote Rowling. "They were already aware of the many similarities between their communities."

Rowling also used the text to discuss a number of technical differences between the magical communities of Europe and North America.

"The Native American wizarding community was particularly gifted in animal and plant magic, its potions in particular being of a sophistication beyond much that was known in Europe," she wrote. "The most glaring difference between magic practiced by Native Americans and the wizards of Europe was the absence of a wand."

The snippet of pre-Columbian wizardry is only a taste of what Rowling has promised fans. According to a promotional trailer, the series is expected to cover the Salem witch trials, the Magical Congress of the United States, and introduce the first known school of witchcraft and wizardry on the continent, Ilvermorny. An explanatory piece on the school has been promised soon.